Heroic is the best single word for
the work of Mrs. Margaret C.A. Owino, SCI’s East Africa Coordinator, based in
Nairobi, Kenya. On the job slightly more than a year, Margaret familiarized
herself with SCI's projects in Kenya and Ethiopia--with the conditions, the
people, and the gradual headway SCI has been making in teaching solar cooking in
Kakuma and Aisha refugee camps

Then, she plunged right in.

Margaret has negotiated with UN
officials in Ethiopia. She’s researched alternative suppliers for solar cooking
gear like reflective foil, pots, plastic bags, and black paint. She’s
field-tested samples of gear and experimented with various schemes to bring
cooker costs even lower and to enable refugees to make or finish cookers. She’s
unsnarled hang-ups in getting supplies from Nairobi across the wild desert to
Kakuma. At times, when necessary, Margaret has traveled by truck for a day and a
half to reach the camp, so she appreciates the logistical challenges faced by
truckers in the arid gulches and plains.

More than a diplomat, researcher,
engineer and shipping agent, Margaret is a teacher, a teacher of teachers. When
she started supervising SCI’s work in Kakuma, her leadership rallied the refugee
staff of the solar cooker project. Early on, she gave an extended Training of
Trainers workshop for the solar project staff. The workshop's theme was
"Participatory Training Methodologies" and included team building and problem
solving. The trainers feel more confident as a result of Margaret's involvement.
They see the solar cooking program adapting to Kakuma thanks to Margaret’s
initiative--from improving contact with the Kakuma camp management--Lutheran
World Federation (LWF)--to making sure that each of the 10 training centers in
the camp has sufficient solar cooker teaching supplies in stock.

Margaret has worked hard to
facilitate the transfer of responsibility for the solar cooker project to the
excellent LWF staff. LWF management and staff now fully recognize the solar
project and have incorporated the project's supervisor and monitors into their
bi-weekly meeting of the LWF social services staff. The LWF finance department
ensures that the refugees working in the solar project are paid on time.

Margaret also works closely with
the monitors who help keep the trainers on task. Last November she reported, “In
actual practice, trainers are monitored all the time. Monitors are always
present on a daily basis as the training goes on...and even chip in from time to
time.” She’s coached the monitors in what to watch for in trainers’ teaching
style and in how to help the trainers to master improved methods.

Margaret also appointed a former
trainer who had worked his way up to being a monitor, Shadrack Alumai, to be
supervisor of the project. Shadrack reports directly to Hellen Lipo of the LWF.
In May, Margaret reported: "Project staff were happy...They have no problems as
they have very able support from Faith Awino and Hellen Lipo."

But Kakuma is only one aspect of
Margaret’s job. She has also been busy setting up SCI’s East Africa office and
registering it with the Kenyan government. She’s been building awareness of SCI
among environmental and human service groups in Nairobi and coordinating with
the Nairobi offices of our partners in Kakuma, LWF and the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees. She also negotiated a cut in the price SCI pays for CooKits
manufactured in Nairobi.

In late April and early May,
Margaret was in Ethiopia, working out a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
UN officers for the next 12 months of the solar cooker project in the Aisha
Refugee Camp. The plan calls for further solar cooking education activities,
creation of a permanent supply line into Aisha so that refugees can trade for
replacement cookers, insulating bags, etc., and exploration of the possibility
of producing cookers in Aisha camp itself. Working with a UN counterpart,
Margaret advertised to hire a coordinator for the Ethiopian project, reviewed
the applicants, interviewed the top five, and hired Mr. Nadir Aden.

Margaret and Nadir then went to
the remote Aisha camp and met with leaders of the refugee community and the
women’s committee. Margaret reports:

“All those present affirmed that
every household in Aisha camp owned a solar cooking kit...The community affirmed
that they could cook most of their food except njera using the solar
cooker.Those who used their panels
tended to use it for lunch as well as for dinner.”

After the meeting, Margaret gave
Nadir a tour of the camp and then took him to Aisha town to meet with local
officials of the Ethiopian government. There, Margaret helped Nadir arrange
lodging and meals for the 20 days per month he’ll be working in Aisha. Then she
rushed back to Addis Ababa for the official signing of the MOU, for some
discussions with a technical officer and for another effort to locate a
manufacturer to mass produce CooKits in Ethiopia. Under pressure and under
difficult logistical conditions, Margaret’s productivity gives testimony to her
can-do spirit.

In her reports to SCI, Margaret gives
testimony to the value of solar cooking to the refugees.

“It is true,” she writes, “that more men
are turning up (for solar cooking lessons), as they find the methodology to be
very convenient. Those without spouses find that it saves their food, which they
would have otherwise exchanged for firewood or charcoal. They also feel it is
clean compared to three-stone fire hearths. In addition, those with some form of
employment leave their food cooking, and when they get back, it is ready.”

Early this year, the World Food
Program stopped providing free food for the solar cooking training sessions in
Kakuma. Trainers, monitors and Margaret discussed the issue and decided training
could be more “demand-driven” if the trainees would gamble that their own
precious food supplies could be cooked at the workshops using solar power.

The report came back to Margaret:
the trainings are still as popular as ever. When asked why she’d risk food for
solar cooking lessons, one refugee replied, “The food basket this time round is
only maize grains, which require a lot of firewood or charcoal to cook. So it is
better we bring a little here so that we learn how to cook it using solar than
exchanging more for firewood or charcoal every day.”

“The last firewood distribution
was in November, and now it is February,” another added. “It has been really
hard to cook, and we have seen those who had solar panels doing very well.”

Thousands of people know how to
use their solar CooKits, thanks to Margaret’s diligence, courage and drive.
Phone lines might go down, dust storms might disrupt solar training, truck
convoys might not get through, but with Margaret on duty, we know that the best
possible job that can be done will be done.Another Life Saved

When Margaret Owino was in Ethiopia in
April moving our Aisha project forward, she asked Mrs. Faustine Odaba to check
in on Kakuma. Faustine was on the SCI project team that launched the Kakuma
solar cooking project in 1995 and now works for Rotary International’s solar
cooking project in Kenya. While working in Kakuma 1, where SCI’s project is,
Faustine and another woman were invited to visit one of the neighboring refugee
camps.

We are proud to welcome aboard our
newest staff member, Nadir Aden. Nadir was hired in early May by East Africa
Coordinator Margaret C.A. Owino. His role will be that of a coordinator for
SCI’s Ethiopia project, located in Aisha camp. The position will require a
multitude of skills and dedication to the practice of solar cooking.

Nadir’s duties will consist
primarily of organizing the project, incorporating solar cooking supplies into
the local marketplace and collecting data. No doubt his continuous presence will
also play a vital role in keeping the spirits of the solar cooks high.

An immediate responsibility for
Nadir was the recruitment of six trainers. With the help of UNHCR staff,
Ethiopian Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) officials, and
refugee elders, women and youth representatives, Nadir screened possible
recruits and hired the following individuals:

Other priorities include monitoring the
usage of CooKits, such as the types of food cooked, cooking frequencies and user
profiles--gender, age, etc. In his first monthly report, Nadir notes that many
families are in need of replacement bags. However, those that have bags use
their CooKits to cook tea, rice, wheat, meat, and pasta. Nadir will also conduct
a market survey to identify possible vendors of supplies. He has already taken
steps toward this end by placing insulation bags in three local shops and
directing local project staff to make refugees aware of these supply locations.
In addition, Nadir will continue to explore local production of supplies and
reuse/recycle options for worn out bags.

These and other tasks set aside
for the new Aisha coordinator are not easy ones. Nadir will need to work well
with refugee families, local officials and NGO staff members. Nadir, born in
Gode, Ethiopia and schooled in both Ethiopia and Somalia, has a solid education,
which includes computer and accounting training. He also has experience working
in managerial roles. Skills he gained while working as a nutritional worker,
agricultural project coordinator and rural development manager will no doubt aid
him in his new role as well. But most importantly, he has good people skills,
which are invaluable when it comes to the spread of solar cooking.

We wish Nadir the best of luck and
welcome him to SCI and the world of solar cooking.

The first six months of 1999 have been
busy ones for Solar Cookers International (SCI), with much effort going into the
search for a new executive director. In April, board members Elvira Williams and
I represented SCI in Washington, D.C. at the annual meeting of InterAction, an
umbrella group for non profit organizations like SCI which are involved with
international development.

SCI’s East African representative,
Margaret Owino, reached an agreement with UNHCR to continue SCI’s limited
project at the Aisha, Ethiopia, refugee camp. This will allow us to supply bags
and solar cooking information to the refugees at the camp. We welcome Mr. Nadir
Aden as SCI’s field coordinator for Aisha, and the six trainers he has hired to
assist with the project in the camp.

SCI developed a memo of
understanding for a partnership with the University of Zimbabwe, Development
Technology Centre. This collaborative project will bring a closer tie to the
people of Zimbabwe for wider dissemination of solar cooking and the introduction
of entrepreneurship to the women trainers there. It enhances prospects for
creating a commercial base for expansion of solar cooker use while creating an
opportunity for women trainers to operate small businesses and generate income
for their families.

As always, SCI is looking for help
to increase our wonderful group of supporters. One of the keys to support growth
is making people aware of SCI and its transforming projects. We encourage you to
give friends, relatives, and others an opportunity to participate in the good
news of solar cooking for people and environments of our beautiful world.

As of the publication deadline for the Solar Cooker Review in early July, I
report that the search for a new executive director is still in progress. The
search committee has extensively reviewed 44 applicants, and followed this up
with phone interviews and in-person visits. The process has been lengthened by
the difficulties in coordinating availability of both candidates and search
members, which at times has been quite challenging.

I thank fellow search committee
members Norge Jerome, Linda Helm Krapf, Claude Thau, and Elvira Williams for
their dedication and effort on this most important search.

Saikou Jarra'sTubanding Earth Savers Club has
demonstrated three types of cookers in eight villages in Central River Division,
attracting 1000 spectators.

Women complain that they are
donkeys for their husbands. Why? Because first they work in the rice field, then
they fetch firewood from as much as ten kilometers away, then they must walk one
and a half kilometers to fetch water and cook the meal. One woman said, "this
new technology has untied the ropes around the necks of the women of the
Gambia." S. Jarra, Tubanding Village, Bansang P.O. Box, Upper Fulladu West,
Central River Division, The Gambia.

An international conference entitled World Solar Cooking and Food Processing
will be held October 3-6, 1999 in Varese. The focus will be on strategies and
financing. Sponsors include the World
Solar Academy and the Federation of
Scientific and Technical Associations. Ms. Stefania Grotti, World Solar
Academy, P.le R. Morandi 2 – 20121, Milan, Italy. Tel: 39-02-76015672, fax:
39-02-782485, email: asm@fast.mi.it

Madagascar

Madagascar-California Alliance
president Edward Metz reports
that their solar cooking project in Nosy Be is moving forward as scheduled.
Project leader Charline
Rakotomampiandra is exploring the construction of stovetop cookers using
materials from the Antananarivo province, and she continues to supply panel
cookers. Charline notes that panel-cooked cakes are particularly popular! She
has trained five instructors to continue her work while she travels to Europe,
and she plans to continue with a project in southern Madagascar upon her return.
E. Metz, Madagascar-California Alliance, 537 Jones Street #780, San Francisco,
California 94102, USA. Tel: 415-441-6042, email: 102517.3557@compuserve.com

Mali

Gnibouwa Diassana reports that solar
cooking demonstrations in the town of Bla sometimes have up to 90 people in
attendance. One student said, “we have seen, touched and eaten the meal...now we
believe that solar cooking is possible and it seems to be a good way to cook due
to its benefits: no smoke, no wood consumption and free energy.” G. Diassana,
BP.26 Bla, Mali, West Africa.

Scotland

Global Solar Partners School Project. A
Solar Youth Exposition is scheduled for May 1st and 2nd, year 2000, at the
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow. Parallel to this will run
the 16th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition. Fifty
Scottish secondary schools will each join with a partner school worldwide to
work together on solar-related projects during 1999. Selected partnership teams
who have produced the most interesting project will be invited to Glasgow to
present their work and take part in both conferences. BP Amoco is offering
support in the form of research materials, solar investigation kits, access to
communication facilities if available or support from a solar "mentor" or BP
Solar engineer.

To find out how you can join in
and become a Global Solar Partner, contact Dr. Paul Rowley, Solar Energy
Education Coordinator, The Association for Science Education, College Lane,
Hatfield, Herts AL10 9AA UK. Tel: 44-1707-283-000, email: rowleyp@bp.com,
web: http://www.bp.com/saw/english/core.html

Spain

Manolo Vilchez reports he is working
with Dr. Dieter Seifert of Germany
on a parabolic solar cooker called the SK98M. When it’s not being used as a
cooker, it can be reconfigured to serve as a table. At night, it can be brought
into the home where the parabola can be used to brighten the light of a candle
or lamp.

Tanzania

Peter Bech and Matthew J.
Matimbwi, Diocesan engineers for the Evangelical Lutheran Church Tanzania in
Morogoro Province, conducted research indicating that every person in the Ulanga
and Kilombero districts burns a minimum of 3 Kg of firewood every day for
activities such as cooking food, boiling water, and firing clay bricks. Three parabolic solar cookers,
recently arrived from Germany, have been tested for effectiveness. Results: 5
liters of water reached 100°C in 20 minutes; 20 liters of water in black painted
tin boiled in 90 minutes. M.J. Matimbwi, Rude Strasse 34, D-24941 Flensburg,
Germany. Email: matimbwi@simbanet

Antje Förstle and YusufVierkötter report the use of a
parabolic cooker, the SK14, donated by Mama Earth (a German-based
organization) to speed-cook rice, but prefer the solar box for cooking
vegetables because the taste of the veggies and the vitamins are preserved by
slower cooking. The high cost of the SK is a deterrent to local acceptance. They
are experimenting with local cookers made of recycled polished beer cans in a
frame of iron or wood. The SK is useful, however, for dyeing plaited palm
leaves, which need to be boiled and stirred to intensify the color. GO! - East
Africa, P.O. Box 152, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Tel: 255-811-610-560, email: green_ocean@hotmail.com

David Delaney has recently developed a
cooking pot system specifically designed for solar panel cookers. Greenhouse
enclosures, as Mr. Delaney calls them, usually consist of a transparent bag or
inverted bowl surrounding the cooking pot. Unfortunately, these enclosures
collect condensation and require periodic drying. Also, they make it difficult
to inspect food while cooking. Mr. Delaney’s system, inspired by Roger Bernard’s idea of suspending a
cooking pot in a glass vessel, creates separate transparent greenhouse
enclosures for both the pot and the lid. These enclosures would allow sunlight
to reach the pot from all directions (including the bottom), provide insulation
from outside air, and allow vapors to escape directly to the atmosphere. They
would also allow for easy access to the food, and provide a convenient stand for
the pot, which can keep the food warm while on the serving table. Mr. Delaney
welcomes any assistance in research and cost effectiveness. D. Delaney, 142
Waverley Street, Apartment 2A, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0V4, Canada. Email: ddelaney@sympatico.ca, web:
http://www.geocities.com/~dmdelaney/intgrnhouse/conv-pot.htm

Costa Rica

Solar Cookers International (SCI) and
the Central American Solar Energy
Project(PROCESO) co-sponsored
the 9th annual Fiesta del Sol and the 2nd Central American
Summit on Solar Cooking this past February at Santa Bárbara in the Guanacaste
province. Different types of solar cookers, including panel, box, and parabolic
cookers, were on display, as well as other solar-based equipment. Asociación ANDAR, a loan and training
NGO, displayed their solar herb dryer, which is used by many businesses in the
area. SCI was represented by board members Dr. Shyam S. Nandwani and Dr. William Lankford (also representing
PROCESO), and by volunteers Don Coan
and Barbara Jodry. For info contact
Sol de Vida, tel: 506-283-2905

Michi and Gunter
Dallmayr of German EG Solar have
compiled recipes from previous Fiesta del Sol celebrations into a cookbook for
solar cooks in the Spanish language. The cookbook was available in February at
the 9th annual Fiesta del Sol.

A meeting of the Red Iberoamericana de Coccion Solar de
Alimentos (RICSA) was held April 4-8, 1999. This group, consisting of 14
professionals from universities in various countries, organized the following
three working groups: cooker materials/designs, cooker testing, and cooker
dissemination and social acceptance. Each member is given a specific task to
accomplish in his/her own country, and they will gather again in a few months to
share the results. In addition, members are encouraged to hold classes in their
respective countries. RICSA coordinator Dr. Luis Saravia, University of Salta,
Argentina. Email: saravia@unsa.edu.ar

Guatemala

The Spanish language Catholic Herald(San Francisco &
Sacramento Diocese)recently
published a photo of Sister
Gregorcich in the village of Quiche conducting a blessing of solar ovens
built as a result of a national project which she coordinated.

Jean-Claude Pulfer, agricultural
engineering specialist in solar energy, and WILDEN GANZEN, an NGO from Holland,
have helped equip a Development Center for Solar Energy where people can produce
ovens, solar cookers, solar dryers and solar heaters. According to Martin Almada they are also working on
the project "Small Enterprises for Young Rural Women Utilizing Solar Energy" as
a strategy for fighting poverty, protecting the environment and creating sources
for employment. M. Almada, email: malmada@rieder.net

USA

CALIFORNIA

Al
Ligtenberg, a California-based
member of SCI famous for his extensive solar cooking teaching efforts in Nepal,
has kept busy spreading the word at a series of recent events, including the
Earth Tech 2000 show in San Jose, an Earth Day event in Sunnyvale, and at the
Real Goods SOLFEST in Northern California. In May, Al and his wife were in Peru,
again demonstrating solar cooking. Email: Aligtenber@aol.com

FLORIDA/NEW YORK

In April, fifteen of Rowena Gerber's third, fourth and fifth
grade students from the Miami Country
Day School presented a workshop on solar cooking at the American Museum of
Natural History in New York City. This is their fourth presentation using SCI
resources and demonstrating construction of traditional solar cookers. Students'
original experimental designs included use of tires and garbage cans. R. Gerber,
Miami Country Day School, P.O. Box 380608, Miami, FL 33238-0608, USA. Tel:
305-759-2843, web: http://miamicountryday.org,
email: gerberr@mcds.pvt.k12.fl.us

NEW YORK

Roma Stibravy made a solar presentation
to the Association of Small Island
Developing States (AOSIS) Representatives to the United Nations. These
states are energy poor except for Trinidad and Tobago which exports oil for
foreign exchange. Email: rstibravy@yahoo.com

ASIA AND
PACIFIC

India

J.N. Malaviya, solar energy consultant,
organized an essay contest for schoolteachers that was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Pune Central. The topic
"Benefits and Relevance of Solar Energy" was selected based on the fact that
India is heading toward energy shortages but has unlimited natural solar energy.
The authors of the three best entries received solar cookers as prizes. The
contest stressed the need for teachers to educate future generations on the wise
use of energy resources. J.N. Malaviya, C6/24, New Pleasant Park, Bhairobanala,
Solapur Road, Pune411013, India.
Email: malaviya@bom4.vsnl.net.in

Keshav Jaini has been doing demos and
workshops developing different types of cookers from locally available material.
The demand for cookers is such that he provided a template to a local cardboard
box manufacturer who agreed to make a sample lot of 100 CooKits. He is preparing
a pamphlet to distribute free to people interested in solar cooking. Email: kesvin@del2.vsnl.net.in

As noted in the March 1999 issue of Solar Cooker Review, Dr. Ashok Kundapur recently published
an extensive review of nearly 50 different solar cooker designs. He has since
put the entire report on the internet, available at http://members.tripod.com/~ashokk_3/default.html

Dr. Rajammal P. Devadas reports the
development of the “Avinash,” a fiber reinforced plastic solar cooker. This
particular cooker is becoming popular with middle income households in India.
Agricultural families appreciate its compactness and portability, which allows
them to cook meals wherever they are working. Email: devunity@giasmd01.vsnl.net.in

Japan

Yasuko Torii demonstrated solar cooking
during a round-the-world cruise in late 1998. From Havana to Singapore, 42 days
crossing the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, she cooked rice, sweet potatoes,
cassava, pumpkin, etc. on the deck using a CooKit and other small panel cookers.
Over 700 passengers watched the demonstrations, tasted food, and sipped tea.
They were amazed to see sweet potatoes baked in a beer can in a small panel
cooker. Sunshine was very strong in the South Pacific. Y. Torii, 2-18-12
Kamitsuchidana-Kita, Ayase, Kanagawa 252-1111, Japan. Email: y-torii@a5.ctktv.ne.jp,web: http://www5.ctktv.ne.jp/~y-torii/

--------------------

Myanmar

Thet Khyne, a teacher from the Karen
minority region, reports that villagers in central Myanmar sink their covered
pots of rice into hot sand so that the lid is exposed to the blazing sun. The
pot absorbs heat all over, gradually cooking the food inside. He suggests that
in arid regions of Africa many kinds of food could be cooked the same way. The
lid painted black absorbs more heat, reducing cooking time. Sent by: Princess
Ying Sita, The Burma American Fund, 160 West End Avenue, Suite 18J, New York,
New York 10023, USA--------------------

Nepal

Maarten Olthof
reports nearly 2000 people in refugee camps in eastern Nepal now make use of
solar cookers, some parabolic. Email: eerenbeemt.olthof@gironet.nl

Hans-Hermann
Buesselmann says two donors, the German foundation BINGO-Lotto and Teebken,
a construction company, enabled the construction of two solar mirrors and biogas
ovens for a new school kitchen in Itahari. Mirrors and ovens used in combination
greatly reduce the reliance on conventional energy. A similar combination has
been used for projects in Bangladesh. Email: hhb@nwn.de

Sri Lanka

E.C. Jeyaruban
writes that ZOA Refugee Care
Netherlands is in the midst of a two- year solar cooking project in
Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa, and Amparai, three eastern Sri Lanka districts. The
projects are designed to benefit internally displaced persons. Thus far, 140
volunteers have been selected and trained in solar cooking skills, and the
excitement level is high. Booklets and cooking instructions are available to
them in the Tamil language. The cookers, made by a local carpenter with
assistance from a technical institute in Batticaloa, cost less than $30 US.
11/18D, School Avenue, Mahindarama Road, Ethul Kotte, Sri Lanka. Tel: 862-217,
fax: 882-724, email: zoarc@sri.lanka.net

Clarification

In the March 1999 Solar Cooker Review we noted that Belin Pierre made a wooden CooKit, and
that inquiries should be made to Rev. Jules Casseus. The correct contact
information is Rev. Jules Casseus, Attn: Belin Pierre, Agape Cap-Haitian,
7990 15th St. East, Sarasota, FL 34243. Please note that Mr. Pierre
cannot mail his CooKits to the United States for selling.

When you run out of enthusiasm,
persistence and energy for a good cause, contact Barby Pulliam of El Dorado
Hills, California, near Sacramento. She has enough of those qualities for ten
people, especially when it comes to Solar Cookers International and the Girl
Scouts (known as Girl Guides worldwide).

You may have to move fast,
however, for at 73, she doesn’t just sit around the house twiddling her thumbs.
She left June 30 for Africa and another training and organizing mission on
behalf of solar cooking. It is the fourth year in a row that she has visited
that continent. Altogether, she has visited Africa six times.

As a self-styled “professional
volunteer” all her life, Pulliam takes this largely self-financed travel in
stride.

This time, she is visiting five
countries in nine weeks: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and
Madagascar.

She does, however, face a bit more
of a challenge in the communicating realm on this visit. Her trips in the past
have been to English-speaking African countries that were former British
colonies. That pattern will be broken this summer with her visit to
Madagascar.

“My rusty French might not get me
by there,” she said. “And I’m going to Mozambique and I do not speak
Portuguese.”

Pulliam, a member of the Solar
Cookers International board for six years, is undaunted by the language
differences. She expects to have interpreters from the local Girl Guides
organizations helping her. Starting as a youngster in Inglewood, California, her
work with the Girl Scouts goes back 62 years.

She explained that the Girl Guides team
up admirably to assist Solar Cookers in developing the training bases in Africa.

“The problem in most of the
countries where Solar Cookers has gone is that we don’t have an on-going
presence there,” she said.

This problem is overcome when
there can be a tie with the Girl Guides

“First, they’re women, and that
makes a big difference,” Pulliam said. “Women don’t believe a man when he tells
her how to cook.”

The Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
organization is established in 175 countries, so this base exists where solar
cookers are needed.

Girl Guides have had saving the
environment as an emphasis since the movement began in 1910, which makes another
good fit with Solar Cookers. And finally, members are required to do some
community service, for which they can gain credits by learning how to use solar
cookers and passing the knowledge along to others.

Pulliam also praised Rotary
International in Zimbabwe for coming to the rescue when local training monies
fell short. The service clubs provided a $40,000 grant for this work.

While working inside the home and
raising two children with her husband, Carl, Pulliam concedes that a second
career as a volunteer came naturally because “I was unable to say no” to
requests for her help.

She said her husband, retired from
being the lead lobbyist in Sacramento for the Southern California Gas Co., is
supportive of her volunteerism and trips for Solar Cookers.

Alternative Gifts International
(AGI) offers gift giving that remembers the less fortunate. Solar Cookers
International (SCI) is one of the beneficiaries of AGI’s work. Over the past
three years AGI's donors have contributed 1886 solar cookers for refugee
families in eastern Africa, almost 15% of the total distributed through SCI. For
a free catalog call AGI (in the USA) at 800-842-2243 or write AGI, P.O. Box
2267, Lucerne Valley, CA 92356-2267. AGI’s web site is http://www.altgifts.org/

The new edition of Joseph
Radabaugh's book Heaven's Flame,
published by Home Power Publishing, is a great addition to the bookshelf of any
aspiring or established solar chef. The text is well written and the quality of
layout, printing, binding, and graphics do the content justice.

The first half of Heaven's Flame consists of introductory
information about solar cooking...a history of designs and designers, the social
and environmental benefits, and answers to frequently-asked questions by someone
who has obviously heard them all a thousand times.

The second half of the book
focuses on designing and building cookers, with a special emphasis on Joe's
contribution to the world's solar cooker repertoire, the SunStar. His cooker is
constructed of two nested cardboard boxes with a glass glazing and four flat
reflectors that form a sort of rectangular cone. It's a bit more complex than
your average panel or box cooker, but he makes it look easy and it produces some
serious power.

In 150 pages, Joe covers people,
projects, events, technologies, recipes, environmental issues, and fun stories.
There is technical information, but not more than necessary, and the casual
writing style makes it very readable.

To order the book, which listed
for US$15.00 at the time this was written, visit http://www.homepower.com/hflame.htm
on the internet, or call 800-707-6585 (+1-530-475-0830 outside the U.S.).

Kudos to Joe and Home Power for
saving precious trees by printing on sustainably-harvested bamboo
stock!-----------------

Board Members in Monday Developments

Two SCI board members appeared in
the June 7, 1999 issue of Monday
Developments, a periodical of InterAction, a coalition of 160 private US
relief, development and refugee agencies to which SCI belongs. Beverlee Bruce, representing the
Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, wrote an article on
developing programs for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Elvira Williams was mentioned for her
role in a new committee promoting partnerships between Northern and Southern
NGOs. For information on these partnerships, contact Evariste Karangwa, manager,
Africa Liaison Project, tel: 202-676-8227, ext. 131, email: ekarangwa@interaction.org

Al’s Photo
Journal

A brief sampling of Al Ligtenberg’s teaching travels over
the past year…keep up the great work Al!

[Photos N-S]

Goodness, Gaseous,
Great Ball of Fire!

Our solar system revolves around you,You give us power
to turn beef to stew,We catch your ray,We cook all day.

Goodness, gaseous, great ball of fire!

You give us heat and energy too,You give us power to do
what we do,A box a wrap,Your source we trap.

Goodness, gaseous, great ball of fire!

Send us sunshine!Oooooh! Feels good!Help our food
bake!You give us sunlight like we knew you would!

So Fine!Divine!Got a keep on shining all the time,
time, time, time...

You’re 93 million miles away,But you still turn our
night into day,You’re just so neat,With all your heat.

Goodness, Gaseous, Great Ball of Fire!!!

--by students of Miami Country Day
School

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